We Are a Happy Family!

Finally! After three full days of trying, Lincoln Shapiro Williams was born by Cesarean section at 10:10 PM on January 28, 2009. He weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and was 20 inches long. Because he was 4 weeks early, we was taken straight up to the NICU to transition. We were told he may only be there for 4 hours or a few days depending how that transition period went. At about 3:00 this morning they brought him down to us, so he should be able to go home when we do. His doctor came to see him today and said he is doing well. He is a beautiful little baby and we are so excited to finally have him here. We want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers.

Kelli has had a rougher time of it. She is my hero. She hasn't eaten since Monday night and hasn't slept much (none at all last night). Because of the high blood pressure, she had to stay on the magnesium for 24 hours post-delivery. That meant another day of nausea, staying in the bed, and not eating. Her doctor just came and said she could go off it early, so she should be improving soon. Continued prayers on her behalf are appreciated. Other than the side-effects of the magnesium, she is doing well and has been such a strong trooper. I'm so proud of her and grateful for her and all she did to bring our son to us. And, now, after witnessing childbirth first hand I am so amazed by the women that do it and so grateful for my mom, grandmothers, mother-in-law, and every other women who has brought someone that I care about into this world. It is an amazing process. And I'm grateful to God for all of my blessings and for my new little family.

Now for some pictures -- what everyone has been waiting for:

Kelli's "9 month" Picture (Lincoln was born at exactly 36 weeks).

6 pounds, 15 ounces

Talking to mom before heading to the NICU

Transitioning in the NICU

Lincoln and Mom visiting in the NICU after Kelli's recovery

Chilling in Mom's room

Welcome to the world, Lincoln!!! We're happy to have you here.

C-Section

Update: After three full days, Kelli and her doctor have opted for a c-section. She will be prepped shortly. We hope to have a more exciting and enjoyable update in a few hours.

Day 3

Day three of our delivery journey has arrived. They finally started Kelli on the pitocin at about 8:00 this morning, so we hope that will help get the baby here the natural way. Either way, it should be today. We appreciate all the good thoughts and prayers. We'll keep the blog updated. Hopefully we'll have some pictures posted by tonight. Keep your fingers crossed.

Slow

So, we are still waiting for baby. The doctor is taking things slowly. The nurse thinks the baby probably won't be born until tomorrow. Kelli is being a real trooper. She has been put on magnesium to help control her blood pressure. However, magnesium is also used to stop pre-term labor, so we have competing forces at work. The magnesium also means that she has to stay in bed from here on out. It makes her really hot, so the thermostat is turned down to 60. It's pretty cold in here. Kelli is also back to not being able to eat (or drink) anything but ice chips. Continued prayers are appreciated. We'll keep you posted.

Early

So, there is some news on the baby front. I (Tyler) am posting this because Kelli is all hooked up to her monitors in the hospital. As she mentioned in her previous post, Kelli's doctor put her on bed rest because Kelli developed preeclampsia. During our ultrasound visit on Friday, Dr. Petersen said that things looked so good she might let Kelli go to 38 weeks (she had originally said she would deliver by 37 weeks). However, when Kelli went to her appointment this morning, Dr. Petersen became concerned and decided to induce today. It could take 24 to 48 hours to get the baby here, though. So, here we sit ... at the hospital ... waiting. The baby will be about 4 weeks early, but the latest ultrasounds indicate he is already about 7 pounds, so we are not super worried. Nevertheless, prayers on his behalf are appreciated. We will keep the blog updated as things progress and will post pictures as soon as we get some.

I Was Half Right

Just a quick update. Thanks for all your kind words and thoughts! I really appreciate it. So, I was half right in the fear I lived in - my doctor ordered me to full bedrest, BUT she let me come home. So I have one more week of freedom, hopefully two. I'm checking with my bosses to make sure it's still copacetic for me to work full time at home because I know I'll get cabin fever within a day otherwise. It's really in their hands, though. I might be very bored very soon. As long as the baby's ok, though, I guess that's what matters. :) And now I'll be a good little girl and lay on my side as ordered...

Preeclampsia and Modified Bedrest

All right, here's the skinny. (Warning, this may be long and boring. Continue at your own risk...) On Monday, I went in to my OB for my regularly scheduled check-up. My blood pressure had been high enough 2 weeks ago that they'd made me do a bunch of tests, so I anticipated that it would be high because I was anxious. Unfortunately, it was too high for Dr. Petersen to excuse due to nerves, and she sent me over to the hospital for further tests and monitoring. I don't know how any of you would feel in this situation, but I flipped out. Luckily, OBs are pretty used to hormonal/emotional pregnant women, so they let me wait in the check-up room (rather than out front in the waiting room) for Tyler to come get me and take me over to the hospital.
We went over to Crestwood (for you locals), and after 2 or 3 hours, Dr. Petersen decreed that I needed to stay in the hospital over night. The next day she came to see me, and so far my blood work etc was normal, so we were just waiting on the results of one more test before she let me go with a clean bill of health (or really, a diagnosis of pregnancy induced hypertension, but without any severe restrictions). When the nurse came to let me go, she told me to head straight over to Dr. Petersen's office to discuss my results with Dr. Petersen, and she said I was ordered on bedrest. So, like a good little girl, I went over to talk with Dr. Petersen. The results of the last test were NOT negative. I had a protein level of 353 (where 300 is the maximum acceptable, and I'd had a level of 6 two weeks ago). She said if it gets to 5000, she'll deliver the baby right away. She also said she wants to deliver the baby by 37 weeks, which means we have a lot less time to prepare than we anticipated. I'm 37 weeks on February 4, but I'm not sure which day that week she'll want to schedule the delivery. My birthday is the 3rd, my sister-in-law's is the 4th, and my sister's is the 6th. So the kid only has 2 days that week that wouldn't be sharing a birthday. Somehow I think he'll adapt, though. :) In the meantime, I need to go in each Monday to repeat the tests and check the new levels. I'm allowed to work 4 hours at work and the rest at home BUT I'm not allowed to drive (apparently if it progresses, preeclampsia can induce seizures). Since it becomes a whole production to get me anywhere, I was lucky enough to arrange to work from home full-time.
I confess that I live in fear that when she gets the test results back on Monday night or Tuesday morning, she'll order me to the hospital for full bedrest, or that my protein will be so high she'll want to deliver the baby right away. I'm trying to be good and stay off my feet, but the only real cure for preeclampsia is apparently the delivery of the baby. So right now I'm just trying to take care of myself and the baby for a few more weeks. We have good support from family, and Tyler's basically the best, so at this point, please just pray for us!

Tyler wanted to record the event for posterity, so this pic was taken with his LG phone.

Pretty Much a Record

Seriously, this is a record. I'm getting better at updating the blog. Yay!! AND we just took this pic tonight, and it didn't take me a month to post it!
So, this is the month 8 picture. Still in black, but I tried to stand over to the side of the fireplace a little more, so hopefully you can better see my preggo belly. Thank you all for your positive comments on all the pix, by the way. I can't tell you how it warms my heart. :)

Month 7 Pic

We haven't taken the 8-month pic yet. Even though I'm 33 weeks today. So we'll get on that...


And I know I cheated by wearing a black shirt. There's not much of a difference between that and the fireplace, but hopefully you get the idea. Black's just been my favorite color of shirt lately. I wonder why...

Not Skeletor Anymore...

I know, I still need to post a 7-month pic. And now an 8-month pic as well. Surprisingly enough, I'm just not THAT enthusiastic about it. (Though I did get a fun new camera for Christmas, so maybe I'll let Tyler take the 8-month pic soon...)
But I digress. We went and got a 4D Ultrasound this morning. The kid slept right through the whole thing. Frankly, I think Tyler has taught him to tease already. He woke up bright and chipper at 4:30 this morning when I woke up to go to the bathroom, and then stayed awake playing RIGHT up until we went in for the ultrasound. We tried playing music and dancing and everything. But we still got some great shots of his cute little face and his foot. ALSO further evidence that he's still a boy, but I figure I won't show any more of those pics. :)
So, here's our bundle of joy:



We can't wait to meet him next month!!